Disposable place mats



Aug. 21, 1962 YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.

Filed Dec. 50, 1960 INVENTOR.

HARRIET R. GRAIN United States Patent ra"ice 3,050,185 DISPOSABLE PLACE MATS Harriet R. Crain, 2100 Beekman Place, Brooklyn, N.Y. Filed Dec. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 79,730 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-56) This invention, generally, relates to place mats and, more particularly, to a web constructed to provide a roll of disposable place mats.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide place mats of such construction as will admit of economical manufacture.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide place mats which are disposable.

Briefly, the invention contemplates a flexible web of a predetermined length and Width formed into a roll for convenience in use with a dispenser. A perforated line extends across the width of the web so that a preselected length of the web is detachable. Since a detached length of the web is intended for use as a place mat on a dining table and the like, a design of any desired configuration provides the useful function of aesthetic appeal.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a rolled web of a material to form the disposable place mats of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view in elevation of one material to form the web shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating a different material;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating still another material; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a Web having notches at intervals along its edges so that the corners of a detached section of the web has rounded portions.

Referring now to a preferred form of the invention as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the numeral 10 identilies a roll of flexible place mat material generally, and successive sections of the web are indicated generally by the numerals 11 and 12. The widthrof the material is measured along the edge 13, and the length of the entire web of place mat material is measured along the edge 14 with the length of one place mat section 11 being measured from a corner 15 to a perforated line 16.

The perforated or dotted line 16 is illustrative of a plurality of tear lines spaced apart substantially equidistantly along the entire length of the web so that like sections are detachable for use individually, as will be explained in greater detail presently. The `roll of material 10, if desired, may be provided with a centrally located opening 17 to fit a suitable dispenser so that each section of the roll is detachable more easily.

A design is indicated generally by the numeral 18 and may take any desired configuration. This design 18 forms a functional part of each section 11, 12, etc. since each section is constructed for use as a place mat, and it is preferred that a place mat be attractive in appearance.

Of course, the term place mat as used in this description refers primarily to the mats which are used customarily at place settings on a dining table. However, it is understood that this reference is illustrative and not restrictive, such mats being useful for such other purposes as pads beneath lamps, vases, potted flowers, etc.

While a place mat is useful only as a decorative element in some settings, the vast majority of the place mats today are used as protective elements primarily, the

decorative feature being secondary. In the first instance spilled liquids from reaching a table surface-the flexible.

where lthe place mats are intended only for decorative purposes, it is made substantially of paper only in accordance with the invention.

However, for protective purposes such as to prevent material of which the place mats are made is embodied with a moisture resistant characteristic in further accordance with the present invention. In this connection, the place mat material may assume any one of the several forms to be described now for illustrative purposes only.

As seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings, the web 10 is formed of a multi-layer material, one layer 19 (preferably the uppermost layer) being formed of a moisture absorbant material such as paper for example, and a second layer 20 (preferably the lower layer) being formed of a moisture resistant material such as plastic. During manufacture of the web 10, the plastic layer 20 may be deposited as a relatively thin coating directly on the paper layer 19, if desired.

In another aspect of the invention, the material of which the web is formed may be entirely of plastic or the like, as indicated by the single layer 21 in FIG. 3. 'Of course, where it is desired that spilled liquids be retained on the place mat, they may be absorbed by the upper layer 19 as shown in FIG. 2, but the single, moisture impervious layer 21 shown in FIG. 3 will provide a thicker layer for such other purposes as insulation from the heat of dishes and the like.

It is contemplated as also being within the basic inventive concept that the web material be of a paperplastic dispersion, Where paper and plastic particles are intermixedy and cast as such into a single layer 22 as indicated in FIG. 4 of the drawings.

In FIG. 5 of the drawings, a plurality of notches 23 and 24 are shown formed in opposite edges of the place mat web material at the intersection with the perforated line 16a. By this means, each corner of a detached section Will be rounded to enhance the appearance of each place mat further.

'I'he design of each section in FIG. 5 is different from that shown in FIG. 1 to emphasize that a specific design configuration is immaterial since it is the functional aspeet of a design that is significant. In addition, the design as mentioned above may be colored, even multi-colored, if desired.

The form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 5 shows a ridge 25 around the periphery of each web section and, therefore, around each place mat. This ridge 25 is particularly useful when the material of which the web is formed is substantially entirely moisture impervious, such as illustrated by FIG. 3 for example.

In use, the roll 10 is mounted in a suitable dispenser (not shown) which may be simply a rod or the like to support the roll at the opening 17, and then each section 11, 12, etc. is detached depending upon the number of place mats needed. To detach `each place mat, it is only necessary to tear along the perforated line 16.

After use of a place mat, it may be discarded since, constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention, it is extremely economical to produce.

While the invention has been described in relation to certain specilic aspects thereof, it is to be understood that this description is in no way limiting, and the scope of the invention is defined only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. Disposable place mats comprising a web of flexible material having a predetermined length and width, a plurality of perforated lines extending across the width of said web at spaced apart intervals along said length Patented Aug.'v 21, 1962' so that preselected lengths of said web are detachable, each of said preselected lengths being of suicient rnagnitude for use as a place mat, a ridge around each individual preselected length to prevent a flow of fluid off when in use as a place mat, said web being formed into a roll, and a predetermined design on at least one surface of each preselected length so that said preselected lengths ofweb material form place mats.

2. Disposable place mats as set forth in claim l wherein said flexible material is moisture impervious.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Ralph Dec. 6, Coe Dec. 21, Pascoe Feb. 9, Walsh May 11, Francis Ian. 9, Borgstrom July 22, 

